Kier, Wates and VolkerFitzpatrick has been appointed to deliver a new £400 million public health science campus at Harlow, Essex.

Public Health England (PHE) have chosen the contractors to build new and existing laboratories and office areas, as well as a new arrivals area and logistics centre, including site-wide infrastructure and car parking.

Work on the PHE Harlow scheme will be spread across four lots;

• Lot 1 - New build of £160m specialist bioscience laboratory building – Kier Group

• Lot 2 - Refurbishment of main building which includes laboratories and offices – Wates

• Lot 3 - Arrivals, administration and logistics buildings - Wates

• Lot 4 - Site-wide infrastructure, external works and energy centre – VolkerFitzpatrick (Royal VolkerWessels)

Thousands of construction-related jobs will be created by the scheme, with the campus expected to employ 2,750 people by 2024, with scope for further expansion. Facilities from Porton in Wiltshire and Colindale in north London, as well as PHE's central London headquarters, will be relocated to the single centre of excellence for public health research, health improvement and protection.

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With the contractors set to start work next month, the companies will work alongside existing design teams and prepare the site for construction works, which are planned to start in 2019 with phased occupation starting in 2021.

Richard Offord, Managing Director of VolkerFitzpatrick said: "We are delighted to be working with PHE on such a forward-thinking project. The new public health science campus will support the growth of the local area and we are looking forward to starting work on this exciting opportunity."

Nigel Brook, Kier executive director, construction and infrastructure services, said: "This £160m project is another significant award for Kier in bioscience, building on our track record as a specialist delivery partner in the sector with projects including biomedical research facilities for The University of Cambridge with Project Capella and the Sainsbury laboratory as well as the state-of-the-art Derriford Research Facility for Plymouth University."

Richard Gleave, PHE Deputy Chief Executive, said: "PHE is delighted to have secured three of the leading construction companies in the UK to deliver what will be a world-leading national and international resource.

"Much of the work to create PHE Harlow is highly specialised so it's especially pleasing to have secured three of the best companies in their fields to deliver that work. This is yet another milestone for PHE and we can now look forward to the chosen contractors coming on board and bringing their considerable wealth of experience and skills to our programme."

(LM)